Jennifer Wiener, who writes novels that most people commonly refer to as chick lit (In Her Shoes is her biggest book), has a modest proposal to revive the Philadelphia Inquirer book section. Some of her ideas are, I think, respectable:

If a book has been reviewed twice by the Times, I’ve probably already decided whether I want to read it or not, so we can feel free to ignore.

And some are iffier:

As matron of the arts, here are some things I don’t want to read about: new books by Philip Roth (I prefer the old ones, which were funny). New books by Cormac McCarthy. New books by any male writer prone to complaining about the indignities of old age, either general or prostate-specific, or or having his male protagonists do the same.

New short-story collection by Alice Munro. Instead of wasting eight hundred words, just say it’s every bit as wrenching and finely wrought as the last short-story collection by Alice Munro, and be done with it. Chances are, I’ve already read most of the stories in The New Yorker, and I know that they are wrenching and finely-wrought (unless, of course, the new collection gets a ridiculously tarty cover, in which case, you can make fun of that for eight hundred words).

In fact, no more reviews of books by any of the dour, humorless, literary lady-writers. Let them peddle their arid tales of marital angst, suburban anomie, dead or drug-addicted children and their husbands’ enlarged prostates to Oprah magazine.

She suggests more graphic novel reviews, which is a good idea for any book section. But some of them, mostly what she does want to read about, are downright bad ideas, especially when she calls for more reviews of "Women’s memoirs, especially funny ones about birthing and raising babies." I can tell you that I could live my whole life without ever reading another one of those. They all end the same way: "My baby is beautiful and good and maybe not perfect, and I'm not perfect either, but we love each other just the same. Awwww."

But it's an interesting piece because it touches on issues of what kind of books should be reviewed. You should read it.